Rewind: Regensburg Christmas Market

I'm obviously in catch up mode, you guys.  I'm bringing you back to the holidays and to the Christmas Market in Regensburg.  We'd visited Regensburg last Fourth of July weekend and had a blast.  What a wonderful city!  We couldn't wait to go back.  Our friends, the infamous Finch Family, live about 25 minutes (by train) from Regensburg.  The train station is literally minutes away from their house, so it was so convenient to hop on the train with strollers and Sina in a Kelty backpack and instantly be in one of the most beautiful backdrops for a Christmas market. 

Ruckin' it!

Train Ride!

It wasn't as big as Stuttgart or Strasbourg, but I think that's what we loved most about it. No outrageous crowds, not too spread out. But the setting was lovely, cozy, and oh, the food was dee-licious!

Here's a disclaimer before I go any further:  The pictures aren't the greatest.  We went to this market at night and I take horrible pictures at night time.

The market is held annually in the Palace of the Saint Emmeram--a former Benedictine monastery dating back to the 11th century, turned royal palace to the House of Thurn and Taxis in 1748.  The Thurn and Taxis family is evidently one of the wealthiest families in Germany.  Why not?  This family was responsible for establishing the imperial postal system in Europe (starting in Italy), which paved the way for the creation of an international postal system at the turn of the 16th century.  I wish we'd had a chance to tour the palace during normal hours because even at night, you can see the place in all its splendor.

This was just outside the palace entryway, where there were booths mostly selling jewelry, ornaments, liquor, and other fine local wares.

When we got there, there was already a crowd gathered in the courtyard.  Notice all the people looking upward...there was a choir singing Christmas carols from a balcony overlooking the courtyard.  And the crowd was singing along...so were we, only in English.  Also notice the gorgeous, giant Christmas tree in the center of the courtyard.  Sina was in complete awe.  It was all so surreal.

As I said earlier, the food was fantastic.  There were so many things to choose from, which is absolutely ideal when you are completely famished from not having eaten hours prior to arriving in downtown Regensburg.  Of course, we had to have some brats.  But I found a booth selling this...

I need to make a note to scribble down the names for the things we eat because I want to call this goulash, but am not 100% sure.  This was a mixture of sauteed vegetables, sauerkraut, German noodles (I want to say this is dampfnudle) and some beef.  Interestingly, they served this up in waffle bowls with garlic cream sauce.  OMG...heaven!

Needless to say...we spent a good part of the night standing and walking around, snacking on whatever we could find.  Everyone always claims that I get them mid-bite in photos.  Guess they're right.

After eating, we took a walk around the grounds and scanned some booths.  We were mostly on the look-out for ornaments, but didn't really find any that we liked.  However, we did get our hands on some good schnapps liqueur.  I think we got some in raspberry.

After about two hours, we were back on the train with our exhausted little ones.  Sina just sat in her seat in a daze until she finally decided she couldn't keep her adorable little eyes open anymore.

My two darlings.

The Christmas lights around post finally came down sometime last week.  Until then, Sina would always yell "Christmas tree!" ("Tee tis tee") everytime we passed by one.  I miss the holidays and can't wait until next year.  My mom is thinking about joining us, and I am beyond thrilled about that.  Speaking of next Christmas...I've been taking advantage of all the sales on Christmas stuff for the past month or so.  Everything is slowly trickling in through snail mail and now, I've got a new Santa cookie plate and mug set and The Elf of the Shelf book and elf set for Sina, with more stuff to come!

But ugh..11 more months to go!

Hope you guys enjoyed this flashback with me.  I'm going to try to post about our MLK weekend trip to Bavaria next.

Happy Tuesday!

Edit: One of my German readers (I know!  I can't believe I have a German reader!  How exciting!) was kind enough to email me to let me know that the noodle dish that I had that night is called schupfnudel, which are thick, pan-fried noodles.  Now I know exactly what to look and ask for the next time I go out for fest food!  Thanks, Simone!

Ice Ice Baby!

Gosh, what a fantastic weekend.  All in all, it was pretty relaxing and tons of fun.  We just did whatever it was we felt like doing--no particular schedule to follow, and that was just fine with us.

We went to a basketball game on Kelly Barracks.  Malu trains a junior high schooler and he wanted to support him at his game this weekend.  Sina and I tagged along.  Sina was entranced.  I keep saying this, but I definitely think we have a future super star athlete on our hands!

We went shopping at the mall.  There were some really great sales out there.  We bought the heck out of the kids' clothes department at H&M!

We went out to dinner on Saturday night.  German food...I can't get enough of it.

We watched movies--finally watched the last Harry Potter movie last night and just got done watching Conviction, starring Hillary Swank.  Both very good movies!

Did a good amount of cooking too; including brioche french toast with fresh strawberries this morning, chicken pot pie for dinner tonight, along with bacon-wrapped dates (first time making this--delicious!).

By far, the best thing we did this weekend was take advantage of the free ice skating event offered to military families.  The local American ice hockey league as well as the Stuttgart Community Spouses Club sponsored the event and paid for us to skate for almost two hours at a rink about twenty minutes from post.  Ahhh, the advantages of being in the military!

It was Sina's first time and she had a blast.  It was also Malu's first time in years and I was surprised at how great a skater he is!  I'd done a few minutes of skating with Madisen (our friends' daughter) at the Stuttgart Christmas Market last month, but I was excited to get back on the ice again.  The skating rink had these neat chairs to take the little kiddos out on the ice.  It was so much fun to see Sina with her hands up in the air, as if she was on a rollercoaster.  She'd also clap every couple of minutes and since I was pushing her, she'd always try to keep her daddy in her sights.

The last photo is my favorite.  My two loves.  At the time, Sina was watching the Zamboni "clean" the ice.  Yet another experience to go down in the "book of firsts"!

This week, Sina moves to the Toddler Room at school (ages 18 months-3 years).  An opening arose and she's been ready to go for a few months now.  I have to admit that it was a bittersweet moment packing her bag for the week.  She has to bring all kinds of new stuff with her...like a toothbrush, two extra sets of clothing, a blanket for nap time, and a stuffed animal.  Our baby girl's movin' up in the world and it's killing me :(

Anyway, hate to see the weekend go.  Hello new work week!  Ugh.

Happy Sunday to All...and a shout out to my family back in Colorado, as they are celebrating my Grandma Ines' 83rd birthday (which was yesterday) today.  Love you all!



Football Fan!

Finally back on the up-and-up and wanting to start catching up on this blog (and reading my other favorite blogs too)!  Both Sina and I are feeling tons better, thank goodness.  Just a short one tonight, seeing how it's almost midnight on our side of the world.

If you've been following us at all, you know that Sina has become quite the football fan.  Although we don't necessarily follow college or professional football closely in our household, we love the game.  Sina went to her first couple football games in the fall, thanks to our local high school team and LOVED them. 

A few weeks ago, she learned to throw her arms up in the air everytime someone says "Touchdown!"  It's so adorable.

Her Uncle Vaea (Malu's little brother) is currently playing college football in California and aspires to play professionally one day.  Malu was able to pull up some of his game highlight clips online and Sina was happy to join him.

 We kept telling her, "there's your Uncle Vaea!" and she'd say "Co-co" for Uncle.

She kept saying and signing "ball" and did the touchdown move a couple of times.

So not only is she a big fan of football, she's a big Uncle Vaea fan too.

We're so proud of Vaea and how hard he's working to pursue his dream.  We love and miss you!

Tomorrow's Friday you guys!  I can't wait for the weekend!  Nothing planned right now...just wanting to stop working :)

Out Sick & Sina' First Time Sledding

Hello All!

I've been as sick as a dog lately--almost going on two months now.  My fourth doctor's appointment (yesterday), I was told I might be experiencing bronchospasms and was sent home with more allergy medicine and two different kinds of inhalers (which I've never used before).  I'm supposed to feel better in a span of two weeks.  Whatever.  I'm sick of being sick.  Nevertheless, being sick has rendered me, well, not in a blogging mood.  Hence, the lack of posts lately.

Despite being sick, there's a lot I've been meaning to share with you guys.  I still need to post about the Regensburg Christmas Market, which is way overdue, but needs to be posted for posterity's sake.  We just spent the MLK weekend in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany and Innsbruck, Austria and had a blast.

Taken down the street from our rental apartment in Garmisch.  Only in a Ski Town!

Until I decide to do these posts, I'll leave you guys with a video clip of Sina's first time sledding at Garmisch.  So you know, I took the first run down the hill with Sina in one of those sled discs and it freaked me out.  I mean, we turned round and round as we went down the hill and that thing moves pretty fast (guess that's what happens when it carries a lot of weight :) ).  But Sina seemed to enjoy it...until she slightly bumped her head the fourth or fifth time.  I didn't get a video clip of that.

In the clip, I keep yelling "Mom is going to kill you" because I'm sure that once my mom sees this, we'll be getting a phone call with her scolding us for being so wreckless with our daughter.

Sorry Mom!

Happy Hump Day to All...and let's just pray that, by some miracle, I start to feel better soon!



~17 Months~

Sorry I've been out of the loop these past few days you guys.  It's been a busy few days and certain members of our household, myself included, have really been feeling under the weather.  I actually had to force myself to do this post, despite being tired, since I'm falling way behind!

This video was taken at our friend's house over the holidays.  They're fortunate enough to have a basement with a playroom, where Malu spent a lot of time playing with the kids (he's such a big kid at heart!).  Malu coached Sina into becoming a "monster" that he and "Scooby Doo" (our friend's daughter, Madisen) were trying to hide from.  She learned how to scare people!  She absolutely loved it, if you can't already tell.  A few times, I'd peek through the little window and could see Sina just waiting for the right time to come out and "scare" me.  Cutest little monster ever.  In a previous post, I mentioned that Sina does her "crazy eye" look, which you should have seen in this video clip as well.  These are just indicators of how bubbly her personality is. You can probably tell that she's growing like a weed, right?

Folks, our baby turned 17 months last week! 

I'm going to quickly run through some quick facts in the interest of time...since it's getting late and I have another long work day ahead of me.  Let me see just how much I can remember from her 16th month.

Stats: 

One more month and she'll be seeing the doctor for her 18 month appointment.  Thus, we don't have any good stats.   But remember me mentioning being sick?  Well, Sina's the other one who's been sick.  She'd been battling a chest cold for over a month and we finally decided to take her to see the doctor last week, who diagnosed her with bronchitis.  Poor thing. After a few days of antibiotics, she's sounding a lot better.  Anyway, Malu was there when they recorded her stats, but he forgot to write them down.  He remembered, however, that she weighed in at 25 lbs! 

She is wearing size 5 diapers and clothes in sizes 18-24 months are starting to get a little snug.  Some of the clothes my mom sent her in size 3T fit, although sleeves are still too long in said size.  A huge disappointment--I bought a lot of clothes from Carter's in size 24 months for Christmas.  After one washing, they're already snug.  So note to self when buying from Carter's--buy two sizes too big!  Shoes?  She's wearing size 5 or 6, depending on the brand.

Words/Communication:

Her vocabulary continues to grow by the day.

(Old Words/Phrases):

I'm already missing Christmas because she'd get so excited every time she saw our Christmas tree.  Luckily, there are still lighted Christmas trees throughout the installations around here, so we'll get to hear her say "Tee-tis-tee" for Christmas tree until someone decides to take them down.

"Ho ho ho" was also said every time she saw Santa Claus

"Thank You" or "Tee tee", everytime she's given something.  She loves hearing "You're Welcome" in reply

She's been saying "More" for months now too, only she says it "Mo-yee"  

"Hot" is "Dot" and when she's cold, she signs it.

"Purple" is "Bopple", so is "Apple"

(New Words)

She says "Mine"

One time after dinner, she said, "I finsh", when she was done

"Door"

"Raisin" is "Ree-see"

"Snack" is "Knack"

Food: 

This is the first month we'd ever seen her start to get picky with food.  A few times, she refused to eat chicken, rice cereal, applesauce and some other foods that I can't remember at the moment, but know that she previously loved.  Malu and I just remember it catching us by surprise.  She now eats the sweet parts of her meals first and then afterwards decides if she's willing to eat the rest.  The sweet parts of her meals are fruits--bananas, grapes, apples, and peaches.  At least her sweet treats are healthy!

She loves to snack, mostly on her raisins, baked mini Goldfish crackers, string cheese and fruits.  However, we have to hide her snack cup because every time she sees it, no matter if she just had a snack moments ago, she'll cry like crazy for it.

Naps/Sleeping:

She still takes her one afternoon nap, on schedule, for 1-2 hours.  She's had a rough time falling asleep at night the last few weeks, but we attribute that to her bronchitis and teething (oh, and us trying to wean her off her binky at night).

Firsts:

This past month is the first time we'd seen her react adversely to teething, especially last week.  The last of her canines are currently cutting through and it's made it difficult for her to fall asleep at night.  Anbesol and Tylenol have helped a little bit the last few days.

We made a first attempt to wean her off her binky.  She doesn't use it during the day while at school (it's not permitted), but she would use it during the day (on weekends) and then at night.  After a little over a week without it, we caved.  We hit a breaking point one evening when she decided she was not going to fall asleep until about 2 a.m., pretty much kicking and screaming the entire time.  Fail.  She gets it only at bedtime now, but we'll be making another attempt soon.

This past month, Sina visited Christmas Markets for the first time.

First (and hopefully the last) time getting bronchitis.

Yesterday, Sina let me know that she had gone to the potty in her diaper.  I see potty training commencing in the very near future!

Others:

Oh my goodness, this girl is so cute and playful and clearly loves to entertain.  She'll spend a good amount of time showing Grandma Ruby and Grandpa Mati how to do the "itsy bitsy spider", how she dances and says certain words.  She also showcases her array of funny faces, including the "crazy eye" and her new Macauley-Culkin-on-Home-Alone "surprised" look.  Skype is a wonderful thing!


She loves to hang out with me in the kitchen and I'll bring out pots and pans for her to play with.


She's become somewhat of a exhibitionist.  She likes to take her pants off and has, on occasion, unfastened her diaper.

We continue to reinforce good habits, like being polite, i.e. saying "please" and "thank you", or at a minimum, signing both.  And then trying to break bad habits...she likes to touch faces, but sometimes too hard, like she's almost slapping.  It hurts!  She also gets defiant and does things even though you tell her not too, like running along our sectional.  No bueno.

She still insists on doing everything on her own and instead of asking for help, gets frustrated when she can't do something.  Like yesterday, she was crying, almost screaming, about the fact that she couldn't get a cap on a bottle, or another day when she couldn't open a cabinet door.  That's when being independent gets messy.  On the other hand, I like how when we enter the house, she instantly starts unzipping her jacket, takes it off and hands it to me so that I can put it in the closet.  I like how she brushes her own teeth, combs her own hair from time to time; how she likes to pick her own outfits and sometimes puts her own lotion on her hands and arms.  Miss Independent for sure.

When she's awake, we never get a break.  This girl is active.  My friend, Mattie, commented that she didn't think her daughter was this active at Sina's age. I didn't know whether to be pleased or petrified.  If she's active at this age, what's she going to be like at two?  We're constantly looking for things to keep her occupied.  She loves drawing, reading, music, playing outside (when the weather's decent), and she's quite handy with the apps on my Nook Color and now my iPhone.  Needless to say, this girl keeps us on our toes all day long...it's exhausting.

Tacking on to the active piece...she can climb stairs like no other.  I think I'll be having permanent back problems because of it!

Anyway, the 1.5 mark is just around the corner and she'll most likely be moving to the toddler room next month :(

Sina...we can't think of anything or anyone that brings us more happiness than you.  We love you so very much!

Thank goodness it's a short week for us--training holiday on Friday.  We'll be joining our friends, the Finches, again for a weekend in Garmisch.  There will be skiing involved, which means SNOW!  Can't wait!

New Toys!

Sina got some really cool toys this year for Christmas.  Thanks so much to our families from all over who continue to spoil our little girl!  Actually, the mail is catching up at our consolidated mail room on post, so more packages (as well as Christmas cards) continue to pour in.  We feel so loved!

Anyway, I took a few pics/videos of some of the toys Sina is totally diggin'!

The first...a cool Disney Princess ball tent from her godparents, Charisse & Jacques, and their little boys, Joshua & Justin...

After Malu set it up in her room, he called her in.  Her reaction was priceless.  I mean, I'd never heard her squeal so loud!  I didn't catch the squeal, but I got this video clip.  Sina's new thing is to yell "Ah la la, Ah la la!" when she's really excited about something.  Translation--"I love it, I love it!" or "I love you, I love you!," when she's excited about someone.  It's so adorable.

The second...a piano mat from my sister, Rosalynn.  Noisemakers are always a winner!

Got a cute video clip of this as well.

We haven't opened a few other toys she received because, frankly, we have no room!

Not sure everyone heard, but yesterday, we found out that Sina has bronchitis, although you wouldn't know it because she's still carrying on around the house as seen in these video clips!  Please pray that she gets better soon though!



Fireworks!

You would have thought we were right in Times Square the way the fireworks were going off here in Stuttgart!  It's been years since I've lived in a place where fireworks are legal.  I mean, they sell them in the grocery stores around here.  In Colorado, my brother has to drive to Wyoming to buy fireworks he's not even permitted to use on the fourth of July.  He would have gone nuts here!

We spent NYE at our friend's house off post and it was crazy!  They popped off for almost an hour.  We personally didn't have any fireworks.  Instead, we had some sparklers that Sina was able to try for the first time.

It was reminiscent of New Year's Eve celebrations I'd spent with family in Hawaii.  We'd have a million sparklers lined up outside while my uncles set off their fireworks in the driveway.  It was so much fun!

Anyway, here's a video clip I took that evening.  Enjoy!

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays as much as we did.  We're not quite done taking down our Christmas decorations.  To be honest, I'm going to miss having our Christmas tree in the living room.  Sina wakes up every morning asking for it and still says "Oooooooooh!" every time I turn the lights on.  I guess this just makes me more excited for next year.

I can't believe it's back to the grind tomorrow.  I'm dreading work with every fiber of my being.  On the positive side, we'll be having short weeks for pretty much the rest of the month.  We have another training holiday and another day off for MLK, so this year is already feeling like it's off to a great start.

Well, everyone enjoy the last of the weekend and have a great week!